Thursday, Dec 12
18,346 steps
Hi: 75 Lo: 66
MAGIC KINGDOM
CL: 1
We took the WL boat to MK and arrived by 9:05am. It was spitting rain, so we were prepared with raincoats and ponchos for the stroller. I kept expecting it to come in bursts and then clear up like good tropical rain, but it never really did for the next two days. The weather reports kept saying that the rain would stop soon, but they were completely incorrect for the rest of our trip. The rain kept coming when it was supposed to end and then it would clear up when it was supposed to be heavily raining!
We started the day with a FP for Peter Pan’s Flight and we are about 99% certain we were in front of the actor Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down, Pineapple Express, etc) and his family in line, which was exciting for my husband and me! We didn’t say anything to him, but it was fun to see a celebrity so randomly.
While walking outside of It’s a Small World, we also saw local celebrity Peter Pan in the street, who sweetly stopped for a photo and chat with our daughter. She still talks about how Peter Pan liked her doll!
We rode on IASW before our FP at Enchanted Tales with Belle, which was our second and my parents’ first time. We found out that the group you are with and Belle can really make a difference. Our first time was really fun and interactive, but this time was a little disjointed and not as much fun. Belle didn’t spent a lot of time for photos or connecting with the participants, so it was just okay, overall. I’m not sure we will carve out the time for it again in the future, but it is definitely cute to do at least once.
We kept up the Beauty and the Beast theme with lunch at Be Our Guest. Our food here is always really good and the setting is fun. I loved how it was ‘snowing’ outside the windows for Christmastime. Pre-ordering is a must if you don’t want to wait a long time to order/get food.
By this point, it was really raining, so we headed back to WL. Our 3 yo wasn’t interested in napping, so she got to play in the WL kiddie pool in the rain while her brother napped in the room. She loved it! On our next trip, making more time for pool and resort activities is a must.
Around 4pm, we tried to leave, but it was still pouring rain. We grabbed an early dinner at Roaring Fork (no idea what we ate, but it’s all serviceable food, no complaints). By 5:15ish, we were antsy and decided to just take the boat even with the rain and get started on our party night! We were in the park with wristbands by 5:36 for…
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
I was the MOST excited for this part of our trip, over anything else. I read reviews from prior years and it sounded like so much fun with low crowds and special characters, plus a perfect way to get in the Christmas spirit. I particularly wanted to watch the parade, see “snow” on Main Street, and get lots of cookies! Rides weren’t as important, but it would still be fun to jump on whatever we could.
The reality was much different for us, and the whole night was incredibly disappointing (if you don’t like bummer trip reports, feel free to skip this one!).
Crowds were thinning out as people left the park and partygoers entered, so we got on Buzz Lightyear again easily, then met up with my parents. It was a little after 6, and my parents had gotten a ‘welcome’ cookie with their wristband that we hadn’t gotten, so we went in search of cookies while my parents took the kids on Peoplemover.
However, since it wasn’t 7 yet, my husband and I couldn’t get any cookies (not sure how/why my parents got some), and we got shut down when we asked at the nearby locations. We jumped on the Mad Hatter Teacups with no line while we waited for everyone else to finish Peoplemover. When they got off the ride, we headed to Columbia Harbour House for dinner. Food here was good and the atmosphere on the second floor is really charming.
The rain was still coming down, to the point where our stroller covers were gathering huge puddles in them and the strollers were getting damp (kind of unavoidable after a day of rain). We dumped them out, then headed over to Haunted Mansion with a fairly short line (note – the stroller parking is the same area for CHH and HM, so don’t leave the area with them like we did!). I was worried that the HM would be too scary for the kids, but they once again loved the spooky factor.
By that point, the party had officially started, so as we walked back to Tomorrowland, we tried stopping at two cookie locations on the way. The line for cookies at Pinocchio Village Haus stretched out the door and around the corner towards the bathrooms. I think it was for sugar cookies, so we decided it wasn’t worth the wait. Cosmic Ray’s was similarly crowded and crazy, but we managed to maneuver through the crowd. I asked for 6 cookies (6 people in our group), and the really unfriendly worker rolled her eyes at me before passing over a handful of cookies. It was a weird exchange and definitely not building up any kind of Christmas spirit.
My parents waited for more cookies at the Lunching Pad while we walked over to Tomorrowland stage for the show with Buzz, Stitch, and Mike. The rain was finally stopping, so we were excited to see some of our kid’s favorite characters! Shortly before showtime, they came on the speakers and said the show was cancelled but the characters would be out for just one song (I want to say it was Deck the Halls? Something short.). They came out, did some waves, and headed back in. I’m not sure why the show would be cancelled due to rain but then still be able to have a short performance. By the time the characters were gone, my parents arrived with the cookies and completely missed it.
And in that spirit, we continued to strike out. My parents took the kids on the Teacups again, and waited in a 15+ minute line (it was much shorter on a non-party night and also in the time before the party officially started).
We walked over towards the parade route hoping to just glimpse it as we walked towards Adventureland, and the crowd was HORRIBLE. The rain had let up, but there was no room to walk, people packed together like sardines and unwilling to move to make room for pathways. We were struggling to just get through the outskirts when they came over the speakers again and announced that the parade would be “delayed”. No time given or estimates, just “delayed”. I don’t know if that meant a few minutes or if it wouldn’t be on at all until the later show. We didn’t stay to find out. I’m not sure why they didn’t do a rainy day cavalcade or similar backup parade.
I wanted to do just ONE party exclusive before we left, so we waited about 20 minutes to meet Moana and then, wet and frustrated, we called it. And no, there was no snow on Main Street that night.
In all, we spent a couple hundred dollars (I don’t have the heart to total it up) for about 16 cookies, regular wait times during the official party time, one very abbreviated show performance, and to meet Moana. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I think our experience is a fair warning to not get your hopes up too high for any one event.
Tip: I read a few days later that some people were able to get refunded or replacement tickets for this MVMCP night if they talked to Guest Services due to how many events were cancelled. I would have done it at the party or the following day if I had known this was a possibility. Instead, I emailed them a few days afterwards politely explaining our experience and asking for a response, but I never heard back (hurray for ongoing disappointment!)
…
Would I risk doing MVMCP again? The blog reviews I read for the previous years made it sound so great that I am still surprised and sad that we had such a dramatically different experience. I did the most you can to prepare, but there wasn’t much that could have prevented the cancellations. I’d love to try again for a good experience, but I ultimately don’t think I could justify spending that amount of money again unless I found out that they were:
- Seriously capping crowds or spreading out things to do
- Coming up with reasonable backup experiences (rainy day cavalcade, more meet and greets, indoor performances) for bad weather days
- If they finally got back to me and offered some kind of discount or replacement tickets for our poor experience (not that I’m holding my breath
).
I just wanted to see snow on Main Street, dangit!
